Greece steadfast in demand for 3-month ‘bridge deal’

Greek gov’t plans to stick to its guns while up against Europe’s elite

The EU may have warned that time is running out and that a cash crisis for Greece is looming, but the new Greek government appears steadfast in regards to its demand for a 3-month “bridge deal” until a new agreement is negotiated. On Saturday, the leftist government claimed it has no short-term cash problems and plans to present a comprehensive plan as to how to handle the country’s debt and financing issues, which will be unveiled to eurozone partners at a Eurogroup meeting on Wednesday.

Athens has said it will not accept the current bailout program, referring to a “failed” program leading the country into a never-ending debt spiral and causing a “humanitarian crisis”, to use SYRIZA pre-election campaign rhetoric, in the country. The leftist government has also flatly stated that it will not accept a 7.2-billion-euro tranche of bailout money from international creditors due to austerity-policy driven strings attached.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will make his case on why the EC-ECB-IMF “troika” policies vis-a-vis Greece have failed, particularly in causing the external debt to balloon and slashing GDP by one quarter since 2009. Together with the recently hired NYC investment bank Lazard, Varoufakis has promised to unveil a new plan to allow Greece to exit the crisis once and for all — the “fine print” is pending.

At Wednesday’s Eurogroup, Varoufakis’ interlocutors and would-be “critics” will be much of Europe’s leadership, including Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Greece’s 18 eurozone partners. IMF chief Christine Lagarde and ECB President Mario Draghi have already indicated their intent at attending.